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2019-02-13 14:17:43

AAPL

Apple

$170.81

-0.07 (-0.04%)

, NFLX

Netflix

$356.00

-3.94 (-1.09%)

…14:17

02/13/19

02/13

14:17

02/13/19

14:17

Apple streaming video service launch slated for April, CNBC reports

Apple (AAPL) is in the final stages of preparing its new streaming video service and is aiming for a launch in April or early May, Alex Sherman of CNBC reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The service will feature free original content for device owners and a subscription platform for existing digital services, Sherman says. Content from Netflix (NFLX) and HBO is not expected to be on the service, sources told CNBC. However, Lionsgate's (LGF.A) Starz, CBS (CBS), owner pf Showtime, and Viacom (VIAB) are expected to offer subscription streaming services on the Apple platform, Sherman adds, citing people familiar with the matter. Reference Link

As previously reported, Craig-Hallum analyst Anthony Stoss downgraded Cirrus Logic (CRUS) to Hold from Buy as likely lower volumes at Apple (AAPL) this year will be hard to offset even with content expansion at Samsung (SSNLF) and other Android OEMs given Apple is about 83% of revenues. The analyst lowered his price target on the shares to $38 from $44.

01/31/19

WEDB

01/31/19NO CHANGETarget $200WEDBOutperform

Apple taking small step in right direction, says Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says that while the overall headline numbers were not a surprise, he would characterize Apple's March guidance as "better than feared" with many of the bears whispering that a sub $55B revenue guidance was potentially in the cards versus Apple's $55B-$59B range. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $200 price target on the shares.

Despite Apple (AAPL) itself offering no comments on the subject or giving any indication to investors of its intentions, potential acquisition targets for the company have been widely discussed in press reports on a regular basis, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee tells investors in a research note. The speculation has included a wide range of industries, from automobile manufacturers, like Tesla (TSLA), to information platforms, like Twitter (TWTR), adds the analyst. He believes the speculation has likely in part been driven by the $130B of net cash on Apple's balance sheet. Chatterjee finds three industries to be of the most strategic value to Apple for potential deals: Video gaming, smart home speaker and video content. These areas provide potential growth opportunities to leverage Apple's services over a wider installed base, says the analyst. In video gaming, he sees Activision Blizzard (ATVI) as being the best strategic fit for Apple. In smart home speaker, Chatterjee believes Sonos (SONO) offers the best strategic of the names mentioned in the press. And in video content, the analyst views Netflix (NFLX) as the best strategic fit, although he "appreciates a combination is less likely as Netflix is unlikely to be a seller for a modest premium."

02/07/19

MSCO

02/07/19NO CHANGETarget $99MSCOOverweight

PayPal acceptance growth still best of any digital wallet, says Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette said the most common question he has gotten for the past several weeks on PayPal (PYPL) has been, "Why is the stock underperforming so much since the beginning of 2019?" He believes PayPal's recent plateauing probably has more to do with other stocks than anything stock-specific, stating that Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) "really have arguably had their best buying opportunities in years" and he would not be surprised to see PayPal "tread water" until those two stocks retake their respective highs. Another common thread in talks has been increasing concern that other digital wallets from Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and others may be closing the acceptance gap, though he thinks that "speculation is flatly wrong." Dating back to March 2016, PayPal has had the fastest acceptance growth among all digital wallets, outpacing all the other wallets that he can reliably track, Faucette tells investors. He maintains an Overweight rating and $99 price target on PayPal shares.

BofA/Merrill analyst Nat Schindler notes that Netflix guidance implies a gradual ramp in margins from Q1 to Q4. But current Street estimates call for 15.1% operating margin in Q3, and 14.2% operating margin in Q4, which does not address the company's call for a gradual increase throughout 2019 with sequential margin expansion between Q3 and Q4, he contends. Further, Schindler points out that management commentary on the sell-side callback suggested that continued sequential improvement in operating margins from Q4 of 2019 into 2020 was reasonable and likely, making Street operating margin estimates of 16.4% for 2020 seem low. The analyst reiterates a Buy rating and $450 price target on the shares.

Imperial Capital analyst raised his David Miller raised his 2019 global streaming subscriber estimate for Netflix to 172.9M from 171.8M. This allowed the analyst to raise his fiscal 2019 revenue estimate from $20.2B from $19.8B, EBITDA estimate to $2.74B from $2.65B and earnings per share estimate to $4.06 from $3.99. Research reveals that Netflix subscribers will see additional seasons of five hit series return this year: season three of 13 Reasons Why, season seven of Orange is the New Black, season three of Glow, season three of Stranger Things and season three of The Crown, Miller tells investors in a research note. These series are "stalwart shows" for the Netflix platform, and usually result in subscriber additions beyond guidance, says the analyst. Miller maintains an Outperform rating on Netflix with a $463 price target.

02/05/19

JPMS

02/05/19NO CHANGETarget $1250JPMSOverweight

JPMorgan keeps Overweight on Alphabet but continues to prefer other FANGs

Alphabet's (GOOG) Q4 "continues to prove challenging on the bottom line" as the company now had a string of lighter than expected Q4's in terms of operating income and margins, JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth tells investors in a post-earnings research note. While the quarter is seasonally strong for advertising, it also comes with higher content costs for YouTube, more marketing spending, and a spike in low-margin hardware, says the analyst. Overall, though, Anmuth believes Alphabet continues to execute well as evidenced by both the acceleration and long-term stability in its sales growth. He maintains an Overweight rating on the shares, but prefers other FANG names Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) to Google. The analyst lowered his price target for the latter to $1,250 from $1,270.

02/12/19

WBLR

02/12/19NO CHANGEWBLROutperform

William Blair sees 22% upside in Netflix shares by end of 2019

William Blair analyst Ralph Schackart says his content analysis solidifies his view that Netflix's (NFLX) competitive advantage with original programming is expanding at an increasing rate. At a subscription price of $9-$16 per month, the average household receives "outsized value" on a Netflix subscription relative to competing offerings/channels, Schackart tells investors in a research note. Further, the analyst sees little impact to Netflix's global growth resulting directly from over-the-top competition, including Disney's (DIS) forthcoming stand-alone OTT product. His model suggests Netflix could be self-funded, meaning it won't need debt to finance content spend, as soon as early 2025. Schackart assumes Netflix has 302.7M total subscribers and earnings per share of $24.65 in 2025. He thinks the shares have upside of about 22% by the end of 2019 and keeps an Outperform rating on the name.

LGFUse LGF.A, LGF.B

$0.00

(0.00%)

07/19/18

RHCO

07/19/18UPGRADETarget $27RHCOBuy

Lionsgate upgraded to Buy at SunTrust on stronger Starz slate

As reported earlier, SunTrust analyst Matthew Thornton upgraded Lionsgate (LGF.B) to Buy from Hold, citing expectations of a stronger content slate at Starz driving the higher subscriber count while also increasing its distribution, with the addition of Amazon (AMZN) UK/Germany, YouTube (GOOGL) TV USA, Hulu TV USA, and Bell Canada. The analyst also anticipates higher subs count amid abating Starz MVPD headwinds from international expansion and secular growth in OTT. Thornton lowers his price target to $27 from $31, but notes that his target multiple assumption and OIBDA forecast for FY19 and FY20 are largely unchanged.

12/18/18

DBAB

12/18/18UPGRADETarget $29DBABBuy

Lionsgate upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Kraft upgraded Lionsgate (LGF.A) to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $29 from $26.

12/18/18

12/18/18UPGRADE

Fly Intel: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B, LGF) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. 2. Norfolk Southern (NSC) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Brian Ossenbeck saying he estimates $600M of potential productivity gains based on his analysis and points out that he has long favored Eastern rails as a region. 3. China Life Insurance (LFC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. 4. Ametek (AME) and Fortive (FTV) were assumed at Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. 5. Host Hotels (HST) upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI, while Public Storage (PSA) was upgraded to In Line from Underperform. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

12/19/18

RILY

12/19/18NO CHANGETarget $20RILYBuy

Lionsgate price target lowered to $20 from $27 at B. Riley FBR

B. Riley FBR analyst Barton Crockett lowered his price target for Lionsgate to $20 from $27 while retaining a Buy rating on the shares.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes Apple (AAPL) needs to aggressively cut prices in China on XR and pull forward what he estimates is roughly 15M-20M iPhones that would otherwise sit idle waiting for the next release, or worst case, move to lower priced competition. Additionally, with services the linchpin of the Apple story moving forward, there needs to be serious contemplation within Cupertino around significant content acquisitions to drive services over the coming years, he contends. Ives sees A24, Lionsgate (LGF.A; LGF.B), and Sony Pictures (SNE) among the highest probability M&A targets, Viacom (VIA;VIAB)/CBS(CBS), and MGM Studios among the medium probability M&A targets, and Netflix (NFLX), Disney (DIS), and Gaming platform/video game publishers among the low probability M&A targets. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating and $200 price target on Apple shares.

02/11/19

BRRR

02/11/19NO CHANGETarget $21BRRROutperform

Lionsgate price target lowered to $21 from $27 at Barrington

Barrington analyst James Goss lowered his price target for Lionsgate to $21 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The company's content investments have been important in "dramatically" reducing churn following the conclusion of its premiere series Power, Goss tells investors in a research note. This, along with promotional efforts, enabled subscriber levels to remain sequentially flat in Q3, compared to a 500,000 sequential decline in the year-ago period, the analyst points out. His new price target reflects a target multiple of about 10 times his fiscal 2020 OIBDA estimates.

CBSCBS

$48.30

-0.055 (-0.11%)

01/17/19

01/17/19UPGRADE

Fly Intel: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Amicus (FOLD) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi with analyst Mohit Bansal saying in recent months, the expectations on accelerated approval for AT-GAA have come down. 2. CBS (CBS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson. 3. SeaWorld (SEAS) and Six Flags (SIX) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. 4. Dermira (DERM) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James. 5. Penn National (PENN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nomura Instinet with analyst Harry Curtis saying he sees "key catalysts" in the form of positive estimate revisions, free cash generation of approximately $3.10 per share this year and $4.50 next, as well as both leverage reduction and share repurchases. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos lowered his price target on CBS shares to $71 from $90 ahead of the company's Q4 report, due tomorrow, stating that a "soft quarter...seems largely expected at this point" given a lack of apparent progress in monetizing its content library. Despite further signs of domestic syndication market maturation, he believes CBS will be able to strike several deals this year, Kurnos tells investors, adding that he thinks other drivers have the company well positioned over the medium term even assuming just a modest level of licensing success. Kurnos keeps a Buy rating on CBS shares.

VIAViacom

$34.19

(0.00%)

01/15/19

PIVT

01/15/19UPGRADETarget $36PIVTBuy

Viacom upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research

Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser upgraded Viacom (VIAB) to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $36 from $33. The analyst cites valuation for the upgrade with greater than 15% upside to his new price target. Ahead of the Q4 earnings season, Wieser also maintains a Sell rating on Disney (DIS) and Hold ratings on CBS (CBS) and Discovery (DISCA).

01/15/19

01/15/19UPGRADE

Fly Intel: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Viacom (VIA, VIAB) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research with analyst Brian Wieser citing valuation. 2. Citi (C) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital with analyst James Fotheringham saying the bank's Q4 earnings and outlook were "just fine," but the stock trades "as if tragedy were nigh" at a 2-year forward multiple of 6.3-times earnings relative to the average historical valuation of 9.5-times. 3. Grainger (GWW) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie. 4. Helmerich & Payne (HP) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Sean Meakim saying while Helmerich is not immune from lower exploration and production spending, there is too much pessimism on the company's ability to sustain EBITDA in such an environment. 5. Akamai (AKAM) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley with analyst Keith Weiss citing his increased confidence in durable high single digit revenue growth and margins improving. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

01/24/19

SOCG

01/24/19DOWNGRADESOCGHold

Viacom downgraded to Hold from Buy at Societe Generale

02/05/19

IMPC

02/05/19NO CHANGEIMPC

Imperial Capital raises FY19 estimates on Viacom after Q1 beat

Imperial Capital analyst Megan Barnett maintained an Outperform rating and $37 price target on Viacom shares, after Viacom beat the firm's and consensus estimates when it reported Q1 results. Barnett raised her FY19 EPS estimate for Viacom to $1.12 from $1.02 due to the company's Q1results.

Barrington analyst James Goss kept his Outperform rating and $35 price target on Viacom with a positive view of its Pluto TV platform as a component of its direct-to-consumer strategy. The analyst sees the services as an "important link for Viacom in accessing its young target demo" in a form factor "attractive to the user base". While not expected to make a meaningful impact on Q2, Goss adds that Pluto TV offers the "ability to distribute and monetize the cable network group's significant IP portfolio".